


He'll probably never get father of the year...but he tries

by Are_you_a_writer15



Category: Star (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Dysfunctional Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25836403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Are_you_a_writer15/pseuds/Are_you_a_writer15
Summary: Cotton gets a dad he's not her fairytale knight in shining armor, but she had stopped believing in them a long time ago.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Saw that the Star fandom had been added here. I'm hoping to contribute something to get this fandom going even though I know the show is over it can still live on.

There were a lot of things Cotton never thought she'd experience in her life, but there were three experiences that really hurt her to think about not being able to have. 

One being the true love of a man for who she is and all of who she is.

Two being able to exist in a body that didn't disgust her to the point of throwing up. Cotton had come a long way from when she was an insecure teenager, but there were still parts of herself that she would never really be able to stomach acknowledging.

And last but certainly not least the most important thing the one that hurt so deeply it caused her to relapse back into drugs. It caused the years of self harm in her teen years and ultimately led to her running away and becoming entangled with a pimp. 

The third thing being the love and true acceptance from her mother. Cotton knew that she was lucky in some ways there were girls kicked out thrown away and basically never acknowledged by their families and while Carlotta could have been a lot better in accepting her daughter she could have been a lot worse.

There was another thing that Cotton never thought she would be able to experience a dream that she buried a long time ago when she buried Arnold all those years ago and that was the dream of having a father that loved her. 

Cotton always dreamed as a little kid that she would have big strong dad like the ones she saw on TV. A dad that would come along and protect and love her for who she was without any issue. She dreamt of a dad that would play dress up with her and take her to daddy daughter dances and call her his princess and baby girl while spoiling her rotten. Cotton's fairytale dreams were cut short young she still lived as Arnold her mom refused to see her as the pretty girl she was and she was told that her daddy was dead. So Cotton buried those dreams with Arnold and she went out into the world seeking the validation and acceptance she couldn't get at home and that led her to her pimp who gifted her with the name Cotton. 

Her first experiences out in the world were memories she didn't like to dwell on to much, but they were a part of her journey to becoming her and she never chose to ignore them outright. Although the years of abuse would always weigh heavy on her conscious she had come a long way and she was proud of herself.

Cotton and her mother had never really seen eye to eye the first few years of her life Carlotta spent in prison leaving her incapable of caring for her child like she was supposed to.Then add Cotton wanting to exist as the little girl she always knew she was while her mother only wanted to see Arnold her little boy they were always at odds with one another. They had come a long way her and her mother but there was still a lot left to do. 

Cotton had felt that her and her mother were in a better place she was back at home and keeping the books for the shop and her mom was coming around to acknowledging Cotton for who she was, but all of that went away when Mary's girls showed up. 

Cotton couldn't help but like the trio Star was just the right level of ratchet and crazy that she liked, and Simone while obviously messed up was a sweetheart, and while she hadn't really gotten to know the ice queen Alex she figured if she was rolling with the other two she couldn't be that stuck up. 

Even though Cotton liked the trio she couldn't help but be envious of them because as soon as they showed up it felt like her mom had forgotten all about her choosing to focus on helping Mary's girls out with their singing group. 

Cotton had so many things going on with saving for her surgery, trying to get out of the life, and dealing with her mom's betrayal that she slipped back into her old habits with drugs. It wasn't until she was high and miserable with all the girls arguing about that stupid music thing that she had enough and begged to be taken home by someone. 

Jahil was someone she had known for a while he was shady and ran in the same shady circles that Cotton found herself in a lot of times. She knew he knew her mother from way back but she never asked and he never told neither really being in a position to have a moment to discuss deep things. She had known he'd be able to help the girls out which is why she introduced them and for all their whining he had gotten them into the competition. 

Jahil had taken Cotton home after her meltdown and while she had never been attracted to him she found herself making a move on him. He had been the only person to see her for who she was, and just accept her there were no pretences with him no pretending no dismissal of who she was he just took her as Cotton and she didn't know how to have that acceptance without there being something in it for the person, so she fell back on what she knew and that was her body. Jahil refused to accept her advances telling her she was a beautiful woman with a lot of talent to offer but he didn't see her like that. 

Cotton didn't actually have any interest in Jahil either, but she was high, vulnerable, sad, and just wanting to feel wanted by someone. She tried to make one more attempt until her mom came rushing out of the house demanding they get away from each other. Cotton over and done with her mom's crap turned to go off on her until she heard her mom look at Jahil and tell him three words that made her blood freeze.

"He's your son!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cotton gets a dad he's not her fairytale knight in shining armor, but she had stopped believing in them a long time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to follow up the confession from the last chapter.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy remember comments are appreciated.

Unsure of how to process her mom’s confession Cotton was at a loss so she ran off to clear her mind. Out of everything that was going on in her life and every secret her mother had kept that was one confession she would have never saw coming. Cotton was at a loss for words.

**She had a dad.**

**She had a dad that was alive.**

**She had a dad that was alive and was accepting of who she was.**

While she was still angry at her mother for the deception, she was happy to know that she had a dad especially knowing that Jahil had never shown any aversion to her being who she was. It also seemed that Jahil was willing to build a relationship with her when he decided to reach out to her so they could talk. She had to admit it was weird at first their dynamic had shifted in a weird way , but it was nice to know he was trying when he offered her the donuts even though Cotton definitely didn’t eat carbs of any kind. She had to admit it was nice and shocking with how he wanted to find a place in her life especially when he started asking about her desire for surgery and her reasoning for wanting to do it. Unlike her mother who when talking about it always came from a place of judgement and disgust Jahil was genuinely curious and wanting to understand why she was doing what she was doing. Cotton knew why she wanted the surgery it was the last piece of her transition, the last part that would complete her, the last part that would make everything she felt on the inside real on the outside.

Cotton was genuinely excited to know that Jahil wanted to be there for her and make up for lost time. She was going to go through with her surgery regardless of her mom’s opinion of it but it didn’t stop her from wanting to have somebody there to support her and learning that Jahil…her dad wanted to be there to support her brought back those wishes and desires she had as a child when she dreamt of having a father.

Cotton wasn’t stupid nor was she naïve enough to think that he would necessarily become her knight in shining armor, but he was a step in the right direction for her. It was nice just talking to Jahil and getting to know more about him. Cotton had wrongly assumed he was Mexican and it wasn’t like it was her fought he looked Latino and he spoke Spanish that was just her default assumption but watching him proudly state that he was Peruvian and that she was in fact half Peruvian was interesting to her, it also let her know where her good hair came from.

Jahil wasn’t perfect he had more issues then a magazine. He was shady as hell and was known to double cross people to save his own ass. All in all he was not a guy you typically wanted to be associated with when it came to business and money but neither or those things were involved in this situation and he was trying to do right Cotton could tell that he was trying to do right. She could also tell that he actually had a good heart but struggled with a lot of vices that stopped him from making the best decisions.

All in all, Cotton knew he would never be father of the year to most people; however, he was

**Just shady enough.**

**Just crazy enough.**

**Just enough of a hustler.**

**Just enough of a player.**

and had just enough problems to be the perfect fit at being her father and that was all that mattered to Cotton.


End file.
